Contents

Biography

Early life

Waid recalls his first comic book as an issue of Batman his father brought home after the debut of the 1960s Batman television series. He was only three and learning to read, but recalls being "captivated." Later, he recalls traveling frequently to a newsstand in downtown Birmingham that had "a giant wall of comics on wall racks that stretched from floor to ceiling."1 Later, during his teen years, his family lived in several location across the southern United States.2

Career

Entering the field during the mid-1980s as an editor and writer with Fantagraphics Books' comic book fan magazine, Amazing Heroes, Waid was soon hired to serve as an editor for DC Comics where he worked on titles such as Secret Origins and Legion of Super-Heroes.

In 1990 Waid left editorial work for freelance writing assignments. He worked for DC's short-lived Impact Comics line where he wrote The Comet and wrote dialogue for Legend of the Shield.

In 1992 Waid began the assignment which would bring him to wider recognition in the comics industry, when he was hired to write The Flash by then editor Brian Augustyn. Starring one of DCs flagship characters, Waid had an acclaimed eight-year run on the title with a number of artists and Augustyn as co-writer his final year on the title.

Waid's initial success on Flash was acknowledged by DC's competitor Marvel Comics when Marvel editors Matt Idelson and Mark Gruenwald hired him as Gruenwald's successor as writer on Captain America. Waid's first run on the title, with artist Ron Garney, met with positive critical and fan reaction, which grew stronger when the stint was ended prematurely after less than a year by Marvel executives to make way for Heroes Reborn, a reinvention of the character by Rob Liefeld.

Although his second run on the character (Captain America Volume 3, issues #1-23) was not as universally praised as his first, Waid's prestige had been boosted by the whole affair and he went on to be one of the most prolific comic writers of the late 1990s. He also wrote the short-lived spin-off series Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty from 1998–1999, having written 10 of the 12 issues.

In 1996, Waid, with artist Alex Ross, released his best-known work, the graphic novel Kingdom Come. This story, set in the future of the DC Universe, depicted the fate of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes as the world around them changed. It was written in reaction to the "grim and gritty" comics of the 1980s and 1990s, and while many of the events in the story were intense, a steady optimism filled the series. Many of the ideas introduced here have been integrated into the present-day DC Universe, and Waid himself wrote a less successful follow-up to the series, The Kingdom.

Waid also had acclaimed runs on DC's JLA, the Flash spinoff series Impulse and Crossgen's Ruse. In Impulse, Waid briefly had the title character based in the fictional town of Manchester, Jasper County, Alabama. Like Birmingham, the town featured a large statue on a pedestal atop a mountain.

Among the projects he served as editor for was Grant Morrison's critically acclaimed run on Doom Patrol. Waid and Morrison later tag-teamed on a number of projects that would successfully reestablish DC's JLA to prominence. Waid's contributions included JLA: Year One, as well as work on the ongoing series. The two writers also helped develop the concept of Hypertime to help explain problems with continuity in the DC Universe.

In 2003, Waid released a series named Empire (with Barry Kitson), whose protagonist was a Doctor Doom-like supervillain named Golgoth who had successfully defeated all superheroes and conquered the world. The series was originally published by Gorilla Comics, a company formed by Waid, Kurt Busiek and several others, but the company folded after only two issues were produced. Empire was completed under the DC Comics label but is in its own distinct universe.

Waid began an acclaimed run as writer of Fantastic Four in 2002 with his former Flash artist Mike Wieringo and by the next year, Waid's fan-favorite run on the Fantastic Four was threatened when Marvel executives sought to reinvent aspects of the series. When Waid and Wieringo were replaced on the title after refusing to acquiesce to the editiorial changes, the resulting fan backlash led to Waid and Wieringo's reinstatement on the title within weeks. The FF backlash was also a contributing factor to then Marvel Publisher Bill Jemas leaving his position. Waid and Wieringo later completed their run on Fantastic Four with issue #524 (May 2005), by which time the previously relaunched series had returned to its original numbering.

In 2003 Waid wrote the origin of the "modern" Superman with Superman: Birthright, a twelve-part limited series, which was meant to be the new official origin story of the Man of Steel. "Birthright" contained several characters and elements from Silver and Modern Age Superman comics and also homages to Superman: The Movie and the Smallville television series.

Waid returned to writing Legion of Super-Heroes in December 2004, teaming again with Barry Kitson. He wrapped up his run on the book in mid-2007 with issue 30.

Waid, along with past collaborator Grant Morrison, and other prominent DC Universe creators Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Keith Giffen played an editorial role in guiding the DC Universe after the events of the company's Infinite Crisis event. Together, they wrote a weekly series named 52 that lasted for one year and covered the events that take place during the year in the DC Universe following Infinite Crisis.

In 2005, Waid signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. Among the projects covered by that contract were a new launch of The Brave and the Bold with artist George Pérez and a brief return to The Flash.

On July 27, 2007, at the Comic-Con International, Boom! Studios announced that in August of that year Waid would join Boom! as Editor-in-Chief. As his non-creator assignments at DC lapsed, he stated that all his future creator-owned work will be with Boom!. He is currently of the Spider-Man creative team, writing several issues for Amazing Spider-Man.

Awards

His work in comics has won him several awards, including the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997.